Germany deports ‘Osama bin Laden’s bodyguard’ to Tunisia

Posted on Friday, 13th July 2018 @ 04:13 PM by adminText Size A | A | A

Germany has deported a man, who allegedly served as Osama Bin Laden’s bodyguard, to Tunisia. He had been living in the country while claiming state benefits, the Interior Ministry said.

The 42-year-old man, identified in German media as Sami A., boarded a chartered Tunisia-bound flight from Dusseldorf early on Friday, N-TV reported. Germany’s Interior Ministry confirmed the deportation.

“I can confirm that Sami A was sent back to Tunisia this morning and handed over to Tunisian authorities,” Interior Ministry spokeswoman Annegret Korff was quoted by AFP news agency.

Bild newspaper reported the man’s arms and legs were cuffed, and he was escorted by heavily-armed police officers tasked with handing over the suspect to Tunisian counterparts.

A spokeswoman for the ministry said they “had supported”Duesseldorf authorities during deportation formalities, and Interior Minister Horst Seehofer “was informed after the repatriation was completed.” Earlier, a German court ruled against Sami A’s deportation, but the faxed verdict reached authorities too late to stop the procedure.

The man was arrested earlier in June in the western German town of Bochum. The arrest took place after the German Federal Office for Migration and Refugees (BAMF) lifted a ban on his deportation.

Sami A. made headlines in late April when German media revealed that the man, who was reportedly suspected of being a bodyguard for alleged 9/11-mastermind Osama Bin Laden for a number of months in 2000, lived in Germany, collecting welfare to the tune of €1,168 a month for himself, his German wife and three children.

According to a witness testimony during a 2005 German anti-terror trial, Sami A. had undergone militant training in a camp in Afghanistan. He denied jihadist links, but judges in Düsseldorf believed the witness.

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